Railway-frog.



PATEN TED MAR. 15, 19:04.

A A KIMBALL & W J CONNERS RAILWAY PROG- APPLICATION FILED 110v 12 1903no MODEL;

Inventor; I ffimba/l I and 27/06277561687777675,

UNTTED STATES Patented March 15, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

ALMON A. KIMBALL AND WILLIAM J. CONNERS, OF SCANLON, MINNESOTA.

RAILWAY-FROG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 754,875, dated March15, 1904.

Application filed November 12, 1903. Serial No. 180,898. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ALMoN A. KIMBALL and WVILLIAM J. CoNNERs, citizensof the United States, residing at Scanlon, in the county of Carlton andState of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway-Frogs; and we dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in railway-frogs, andparticularly to the class of movable rail-frogs.

The object of the invention is toprovidea movable frog at thecrossing-point of railwayrails which is adapted to be shifted after themanner of a switch to enable trains on one track to cross over ontoanother track.

Another object is to provide a frog which is shifted bodily from onecrossing-rail to the other, thereby providing practically a continuousrail over which the wheels of the train are to pass.

A further object is to provide a frog of this character which will besimple, strong, and durable, means being also provided whereby theaccumulation of snow or ice on the parts of the frog is removed by theshifting of the parts.

With these and other objects in View the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts,as will be more fully described, and particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of arailway-crossing, showing the improved frog in one position. Fig. 2 is asimilar View showing the same in its shifted position. Fig. 3 is avertical longitudinal sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4isa vertical cross-sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 denotes the rails of thestraight or main track, and 2 denotes the rails of the crossing or sidetrack. 3 denotes the frog-rails, which are secured to a plate 4, whichis mounted to slide on a bed-plate 5 between guides 6, ar-

ranged at the ends of the plate 4 and secured to the plate 5, as shown.

On the under side of the plate4 are formed transverse dovetailed groovesor channels 7, of which there are preferably two, the ends of the platesbeing also dovetailed, as at 8. These grooves are adapted to engagedovetail ribs or cleats 9, which are secured to or formed on thebed-plate 5, thereby holding the frogplatein place, but permitting thesameto be shifted to bring the ends of the frog-rails into properengagement with the ends of the main andcross track rails, the ends ofsaid main and cross track rails being secured in the guide-castings 6,between which the frog-plate slides.

Secured to the sides of the sliding frog-plate 4 are shifting-rods 10,which extend beneath the lines of tracks to suitable operatingmechanism, (not shown,) whereby the frog-plate and rails are thrown.

Secured at their ends to the guides 6 are longitudinally-disposed plates12, said plates being arranged at each end of the guides 6 and over thesliding plate 4. The inner edges of the plates 12 are beveled to an edge13, which engages the upper surface of the plate 4, and as the same isshifted back and forth beneath said plates 12 the snow and ice thereonwill be scraped off by the sharp beveled edge 13 of said plates. Theplates 12 are detachably secured to the guides 6, so that, if desired,they may be removed during warm weather or when there is no danger fromsnow or ice accumulating on the frog-rail plate.

A frog constructed as hereinbefore described dispenses with the usualguard-rails and dangerous constructions usually found in connection withfrogs of the ordinary construction, also providing asubstantiallycontinuous rail for either the main line or side track-rails.

The contraction and expansion of the parts of the frog, due to climaticchanges, will not effect the working qualities of the same, asfrequently happens in stationary or other forms of frogs.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the construction and operation of the inventionwill be readily understood without requiring a more extendedexplanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the principle orsacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a railway-frog, the combination with intersecting tracks, of abed-plate, guides formed on said bed-plate, a frog-rail plate slidablymounted on said bed-plate between said guides, and means for engagingthe upper surface of the sliding frog-rail plate when said plate isadjusted to clear the same of snow and ice.

2. In a railway-frog, the combination with intersecting tracks, of abed-plate, guides formed on said bed-plate, a frog-rail plate slidablymounted on said bed-plate between said guides, locking-grooves formed onsaid frograil plate and locking ribs or cleats formed on said bed-platein position to be engaged by said locking-grooves whereby said frog-railplate is slidably connected to said bed-plate, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a railway-frog, the combination with intersecting tracks, of abed-plate, a frog-rail plate slidably mounted on said bed-plate, andmeans carried by the bed-plate for engaging the upper surface of thefrog-rail plate when the latter is actuated to clear the same of snowand ice, substantially as described.

4. In a railway-frog, the combination with intersecting tracks, of abed-plate, guides formed on said bed-plate, a frog-rail plate slidablymounted on said bed-plate between said guides, locking-grooves formed onsaid frog-v rail plate and locking ribs or cleats formed on saidbed-plate in position to be engaged by said locking-grooves whereby saidfrog-rail plate is slidably connected to said bed-plate, and plateshaving beveled or sharpened edges and removably secured to said guidesin position to engage said frog-rail plate and clear the same of snow,ice or debris, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

ALMON A. KIMBALL. WILLIAM J. CONNERS.

Witnesses:

MARTIN G. MOONEY, O. EKLUND.

